The Importance of Getting Lost

I was very blessed as a child, for having two parents who were both avid naturalists. We didn’t have a lot of money, so vacations and weekends were spent fishing, hiking, and camping and even sometimes renting a remote cabin on a lake to enjoy midnight fishing trips and games around a large, stone fireplace. I don’t ever remember going to an amusement park. I assume it was out of our family’s budget, and for my parents, Nature was the most beautiful place to visit. I spent the better part of my life , also delving into outdoor activities and exploring beautiful state and national parks across the country. Hiking on paths where millions of footsteps had already crossed, I retained comfort in the painted markings on trees, reassuring me that I wasn’t lost. After all, we’re taught that Little Red Riding Hood isn’t safe is she strays from the path. It wasn’t until I started foraging that I realized that there were a lot of life lessons to be learned off of the beaten path. At first, when I got lost and struggled to get back to my starting point, I would feel fear well up inside of me. Intellectually I knew that I could be found and that nothing terrible would happen to me because local parks are on the small side, and around our densely populated areas, are always bordered by well travelled roads. So I learned to trust that when I curated a hike with some careful guests into the surrounding woods, that getting off the path didn’t mean endangering myself. I learned how to trust in my own judgement. That was a big heart opener for me, because somewhere within my spiritual journey as a middle aged human, I discovered that my trust issues with others had little to do with them, and more to do with me.

Another discovery on my regular foraging trips, is how many treasures there are to find once away from a common well-travelled path. If you’re walking on a trail in the woods that many other people have walked, it’s almost guaranteed to be free of anything notable, other than immovable objects, such as massive boulders and large trees. But all of the other artifacts of Nature, the delicious discoverables, such as edible berries, feathers, bones, nests, empty wasps nests, and edible mushrooms, will be untouched and waiting, if you take a step off of that trail, and walk into the forest.

The first time I did it, and many times afterward, I felt an electric shaft of fear shoot through my body. How many times have we heard what happens to Little Red Riding Hood? I always knew I could be her, and the archetype of the lost little girl, afraid of the wolf, kept me in a safe zone, away from the food and medicine that is found away from human footsteps. Perhaps that’s not by accident. Medicine women have been oppressed and suppressed for centuries, millennia even. Animist, Earth-based spiritual and cultural traditions have as well. Shamanic culture and wisdom is still taking a beating in modern day times in places where indigenous peoples continue to fight for rights to their hunting and fishing territory as well as their ancient sacred sites, and medicinal plant territories. Stepping off of the trail also means, losing sure footing. I find my pace has slowed a good deal since I stopped just walking on trails, and started looking for what the forest had to offer in the way of food and artifacts. Learning to slow down, has helped me slow down in life. This has allowed more peace to be a part of my daily outloook. When we’re always heading toward a destination, so much discovery is lost. It’s beneficial to be led, to be without a map, or a guide, to release control and allow yourself to find treasures, instead of creating outcomes.

Slowing down also helps one learn to listen more often, and more deeply. There are layers of listening, just as there are layers of sound, and layers of information to be heard. The art of listening to unheard messages is considered esoteric in many modern cultures. It is a valuable tool for gaining insight into one’s consciousness, and to the free flowing information available from all elements within Nature, such as plants, animals, fire, water, and the wind.

During our daily life, learning to listen more, to receive instead of giving, to be in flow, instead of directing, will help our relationships with others, as well as our relationship with ourselves.

So, consider creating safe spaces in which to get lost. This can be manifested in many ways, not just in forest walks. You could create a frame of time in which you don’t do any busy work, or fulfill a to-do list, and just allow your activities within that time frame to be guided by whimsy and emotion.

You could take an art class or go to a park and just sit and watch without engaging. It is the essence of being led, guided, and of staying in flow instead of controlling the experience, which will help you find those gems and treasures awaiting you.